I am not sure you can develop KI, it already is there. Again, it is probably semantics.

With all due respect, Kevin, Ki can be developed and stored.

If you read acupuncture books, they talk about the different levels of chi. From a more superficial down to the chi in the bone marrow.
Maybe you are focusing on a few levels.

Ki can be manipulated, the only limit is your imagination.

In meditation, if the mind is stilled, Ki can build up and when you go to practice, depending on whether it was a good day or not, uke seems to respond much more quickly to atemi, etc. You can feel it. Your force field is increased.

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Anymore, I am not so sure about the whole compliant uke thing being necessary. Sure you have to set some parameters to control things, but do we set them too rigidly sometimes in aikido?

During regular practice a spirit of cooperation is essential for nage to learn. After all, uke knows what technique is being executed. Not that he should throw himself. That is no help to nage at all. But follow. As practice progresses, so does the intensity.

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I think uke is only responsible for an initial, sound, attack...he does not have to do anything other than offer an honest attack, he doesn't need to follow or anything else. He goes with nage only to continue to improve his position of attack, or to save his ass from getting dumped...it should be very, very tactical.

In a randori, i agree, because there is no premise of learning a demonstrated technique. It is open and natural.

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Speed comes into play as another dynamic. We can slow things down or speed them up. While it does affect the emotion and timing of the attack...theorectically it should not have bearing on the tactical soundness from a principle standpoint.

I think dealing with speed is what we are really addressing most of the time and the impact it has on the realationship. There are two ends of the stick we can work on....slow where we have the time to develop good habits and work on principles. Fast, where we work on timing and all the mistakes, emotions and what not that are caused by that stressor.

When we are in a state of oneness, or nothingness, then the sense of time changes, and it is a matter of onenness or blending or duality. Time is unimportant.

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When you talk about KI and being rooted in a tense body, it sounds to me as if you believe it is a separate and distinct thing, to be developed or produced. I tend to not separate KI from anything. It is always there and always is flowing...it is just the relationship to yours to someone else and the environment.

I agree that Ki is always there, but the more unecessary tension, the less the flow. If we extend our ki without reservation, then we merge with the universal and the ki of yourself and the others and environment are one.

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You can let go of tension and standthere there and get clocked! Or let uke throw you around like a rag doll. don't think it is so much the letting go of tension and relaxing, as much as it is directing your tension etc in the appropriate time, distance, and space.
Its as if you talk about tension (stress) being a bad thing. It is niether bad nor good....it can simply be directed in the wrong way.

Unnecessary tension is not a "thing " at all, it is merely a total or partial blockage of the flow within. It is the familiarity and attachment with these "things" which limit freedom of movement and spirit.

It is the concept of rag doll or tin man that is always presented. There are infinate gradations in between. Granted we need flexion and extension of muscles to move, we could call that tension.

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KI is sometimes described as energy. It can come in many forms, physical, mental, and spiritual. It is conceptual I thnk. It can be in the form of Stress, Anger, muscular tension, fear, movement...all those things. As an form of energy...it can neither be created or destroyed, it is only transferred from one object to another and is always going toward balance.
To me if you can build up and store KI.....it would be as body fat as it is the body's way of storing excess energy that we do not need !

I ain't no guru, but with almost 40 yrs experience, I want to say, why limit yourself? We all have infinite potential as human beings. You can most definately draw Ki into yourself, increase it, and store it, do with it what you wish. Breathe uke in, breathe uke out.
O Sensei said, fill yourself with Ki. Doesn't that say you can increase, store ki?

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Right now I have more KI than I need...want some?

Sounds to me like you need a massage and some female companionship!

Sorry, if I appear too critical. This stuff is my bag.
Happy New Year 2007
Mike